Sixty-four years ago, today, President Roosevelt stood before Congress pleading for a Declaration of a State of War against Japan. The reason was simple: in a single day, December 7th, 1941, Japan had mobilized and attacked Malaya, Hong Kong, Guam, the Phillipines, Wake and Midway Islands, and, certainly not least, Pearl Harbor. Though we watched the Western Pacific with interest, it seemed improbable that anything should happen in Hawaii.

Thus was our entrance into World War II, on December 8th, 1941. On December 11th, 1941, War was declared against Germany and Italy after they had declared against us earlier in the day.

There aren’t many veterans left from that war, the youngest being eighty years old, but there are still a few you can find who are more than happy to share their stories. Those stories, in their words, certainly mean a lot more than the watered-down accounts in most history books.